Story meaning? Spoilers, obviously!

[Poisoned Venom]

Is there some kind of a hidden message in the story? Is this a toddler's inerpretation of a failed marriage? I mean it's obvious that his parents aren't together anymore and the ending proves that his mother was no good. Was she abusive?

[Lunatrique]

It's pretty clear that his mothers drunken rage scares the snot out of him. As he travels through this dream-like world, he remembers things about her from a time where she didn't lash out on him for being a small child.

[Walker☻//︻ ---]

Spoilers dunno how to use coverover.

For what i thinked at story: Mom was alhoholic issues and dad was ok or aggressive. Child was afraid of yellings and mom was unstable and afraid and tired to take it. Child protection service involded. Teddy for only friend. Mom was a monster as child perspective in end. Easy to tell. remaining achiement working now. White markings in walls tells you a hint what expected but didnt pay attention those 1 game through. Extra is it seems in letter blocks it seems you can form any short form you like ingame. I just did my name and screenshotted it. :P was cool feature. I noticed when i reported last bridge ingame wasnt extended proberly they changed block graphics. It is now a wooden box. Yesterday it was open toy box. Dunno if my report cause to change it but anyway it wasnt gliched this time.

[Tracido]

Vagabondage, you nailed it. It's why it worked in two ways, for fear, the startling jumps, and the psychological connections to the real world.

[Ramen]

Originally posted by Vagabondage:

I think the father was just rather loudspoken toward the mother in his will for the child. Clearly the two are separated in-game. A child is innocent and quickly, QUICKLY bonds to his or her mother without judgement... Mother is god... Mother is god... The father is present and berates the mother for drinking so heavily. He's a monster for defying god. He cries. The mother goes into a drunken rage... Both are monsters then at this point. If you recall at a part of the game, if you knock over bottles and cause a racket, a character in a jacket (without a heavily defined frame or face) picks you up and the game ends. He doesn't cause you harm, but he certainly takes you away from a current situation. Versus the tree-mom-drunken monster... who... pretty much kills you.

but wasn't the character in the jacket the one who tore the teddy bear's arm off

[Ramen]

also the guy at the end (whom I am assuming is the father) had the same voice as the bear, no one seamed to touch on that.

[DPumbliQ]

I assumed both monsters were the mother, just in two different situations the toddler remembers and fears her. The jacket monster took Teddy and moments later we find him in the mom's arms.

I'm also almost certain that's supposed to be the father at the end. Due to the fact he asks you if you liked your gift and what happened to Teddy's arm, it also clears up the scene in the kitchen at the beginning of the game. When the doorbell rings and the mom goes to answer you can hear a faint male voice, I'm pretty sure that is the dad bringing you your present which the mom then gives to you making no mention of the dad.

It could explain why the mother would rip Teddy from you in her drunken state, likely angry at you for carrying around a gift from the dad.

The colors in the toddler drawings were very interesting in my opinion. It seemed like the toddler had chosen certain colors to represent certain things. Though I don't think it goes for all the pictures, I found these applying to many of them.
Black - Mom or things related to mom
Red - Dad or things related to dad
Purple - Teddy and other toys
Blue - Children, seemingly also sometimes the toddler
Green - This one got me confused alongside blue, it seemed like the toddler would use both green and blue to represent himself?

Am I just seeing things that aren't there with these?

[TamTroll]

all through the game i expected the whole nightmare sequence to be about an abusive father, the trenchcoats and boots that you saw around the house and the final memmory level were the only things the child identified about his father, a big coat and boots, if the father was abusive, it would be easy to attribute those things to a large and imposing monster. i was slightly confused at the appearance of the obviously female swamp monster however. one picture in the cabin in wich you obtain the square key suggested to me that perhaps the child was once alongside other children under the care of an abusive biological mother, or perhaps he merely saw/read something wich scared him. i was honestly surprised during the end to find that it was the mother who was the alchoholic, as every time you broke a bottle in the final memmory level, it would be the trenchoat monster, whom again i identified as being the father, who would appear. I'm a little disapointed that the father never made an appearance asside from perhaps the voice at the very end, wich could also have been a child services attendent, but in the end it was still a remarkible game, brilliant atmosphere and just the right kind of scares, nothing jumping out at you, and nothing clearly visible. who knows? Perhaps the illusion of it being an abusive father rather then an abusive mother was intended, to give the same twist wich i fell for. who knows?

[Glorious Magnificent Ducksu]

Originally posted by Mr. fish:

also the guy at the end (whom I am assuming is the father) had the same voice as the bear, no one seamed to touch on that.

I noticed that instantly. And like Vagabondage said, the kid was probably afraid of both mom and dad. Mom for being an alcoholic, and dad for most likely trying to take him away from mom. During the game, you can hear the mom say stuff like "I wont let them take him away", which made me figure that the parents were divorced and the mom somehow won custody over the kid.

[RonjaLin]

I think the whole story after the intro except the final chapter plays in the kid's head. This includes the very first chapter which refers to some random things his father played with him. Also his father somehow told him to hug the bear when he's afraid. The kid somehow associates the bear with his father, probably by hearing the voice at the very beginning. Essentially what he does with the bear is the same as he did with the father. One point is that the bear hides the pink elephant, so probably the father told him to hug the pink elephant, and now the new bear replaced the old elephant, so the kid associates it that way.

The rest was already elaborated. As the final chapter makes clear, everything happened in the kid's fantasy, since we see the story puzzle elements from before as his toys that are scattered on the floor.

[Frühstück]

I found the symbolism in this game very interesting. As already mentioned, there's little clues and pieces of evidence that give hints to the player into what's going on in the story. Such as the child's drawings, toys, articles of clothing, environment, and so forth. The player environment was also excellent. It was a pleasure to play through the surreal, ethereal, and eerie environments throughout the game.

There are a few questions that came to mind during my play through. Certain things that either puzzled me or I found to be out of place. For example, I understand that the Mom represented the swamp monster but why was she a swamp monster? Was it just to give her a more terrifying presence in the child's sub-conscious?

Also, there seemed to be a theme with books and stories that I can't quite make a connection to yet. There was the story book that was read by the mother. Books appear throughout the game whether as individual pieces lying around the game environment or when you go through the library scene (which I did not understand why a library would be in the middle of a forest, then again this is a child's sub-conscious so that makes sense . . . I guess). Finally, if you look at not only the books but also on the alcohol bottles, cardboard boxes, and other various packaging. There is a text that appears to be written in old runic letters which remind me of Futhark runes and Norse writing. The company Krillbite Studies is based on Norway so it makes sense. Then again we're talking about a two year old here so it could be as simple as he's two and can't read. The lettering may appear to him in scribbles that just happen to look like vague alphabet lettering and I'm just going off on an overly deep analyzation.

Anyway, now I'm writing an essay haha. Thanks for any discussion on this and if you read all of it.

[Ramen]

Originally posted by ShadowSpike:

Something interesting with the swamp monster Frühstück, I'm positive it's a Nøkken [google image search it], from Scandinavian folklore. The images are exactly what the swamp-woman does in game, eyeing you while submerged. Which leads me to believe the storybook she read to him was about or included a Nøkken. Cue that nasty storm raging outside and the mother's no where to be found.. She probably came home soon after [Out buying more alcohol? The kitchen's all messed up.] and tracked in a bunch of water and mud in the process. Thus forming his nightmarish swamp level, leading our Protagonist to believe it really was a monster, like the story. Which makes the swamp level, boots and trench coat scenes make a lot of sense. Also looking out the window in the earlier levels, the house seems to be surrounded by trees, maybe the level really did take place outside at some point and not just memory/dreams/imagination.

From wiki, "Nøkken, näcken, or strömkarlen, is a fresh water dwelling relative of Fossegrimen, but unlike his kinsman, the nøkk is both dangerous and clever. The nøkk plays a violin to lure his victims out onto thin ice or in leaky boats and then draws them down to the bottom of the water where he is waiting for them. The nøkk is also a known shapeshifter, usually changing into a horse or a man in order to lure his victims to him."

A shapeshifter, we even see a woman drinking from the well seconds before turning into a monster in the storybook level, just like how his mother drinks and 'changes' the same. Another interesting connection to the Nøkken is that they play the violin to lure their victims to them -- ingame the mother hums a lullaby, along with the music box. I remember hearing her faintly sing at certain parts in the game, it can't be a coincidence.

All in all, I really loved this game. Price tag almost made me hesitant after hearing how short it was, but zero regrets now. Really looking forward to the DLC.

wait there's gonna be a DLC I always get worried when games like this get DLC

[Ramen]

Originally posted by ShadowSpike:

Originally posted by Mr. fish:

wait there's gonna be a DLC I always get worried when games like this get DLC

They passed their goal with the Kickstarter, so we'll be seeing a commentary track and DLC either as stand-alone or side story. Anyone who gave more then 5$ can take part in collaboration on the backer forums.

well If they had it planned since the kickstarter that makes me less worried that they might ♥♥♥♥ up the story somehow

[Per Sandberg]

Personally, i think the mother and father of the child just got devorced. You can see in the begining at the mothers ring finger. The place the wedding ring was placed is much paler then the rest of the hand (Awesome detail!). Probably because of the mothers heavy drinking. As mr. Fish said, the bear and father figure has the same voice, probably to associate with something safe. My explanation on the coat-monster: The mother, being recently divorced, dresses up in her ex husbands coats and goes into a drunken rage.

[MiffyPlaysGames]

I kept thinking that the bear was symbolising a child protector. The bear says things like "a child shouldn't have to go through with this" and when you first meet the bear, he gets you to play with your toys as if he is trying to get you to take your mind off the current situation. To me, it's like the bear is analysing the baby's situation which to me made me believe the bear was symbolising not the dad, but someone to take the baby away. Could it be that the father recently died, mum gets depressed & starts drinking & so someone tries to take the child away? I think everyone has good interpretations just trying to add something different to see what everyone else thinks.

[JustPlayingGames]

I played it on my friend's computer and here is what i think:

You know at the end where the one monster takes away Teddy/Dad
Which means that mayby the Mom Divorced the Dad/Teddy and the Dad/Teddy was trying to find the Mom again but The Kid and Teddy/Dad realize that the Mom is bad. But the kid still had Teddy's arm which represented the present from Dad EVEN if Dad was gone he still had Teddy. ALSO Dad/Teddy tells the kid to hug him if he feels scared/when it's dark and teddy will glow which means that his Dad will be with him in EVEN the darkest of times

Btw still beter story line the COD

Btw Btw I am NOT pewdiepie